Missy's POV
What the hell is this? "Layla," I pushed out, my voice shaking.
She stepped aside and took a deep breath. "You have witnessed it." There's no use in denying it.
Her words' coolness made me shiver. The coolness, the nonchalant manner she allowed it to linger in the air between us, not the treachery, struck hardest.
I tightened my hands. "How could you, why?"
I wasn't certain you would get it. Her eyes sparkled, nearly pitying, as she tilted her head. Still, it's not only about Paul. It's more. Much more."
A sense of dread growing made me feel a shudder down my spine. What was she referring to? Layla, this has to be a joke. This can't be genuine.
She grinned, a faint, deadly curve of her lips. You don't know, do you?
Though her words sliced through the fog of my astonishment like a dagger, I blinked in bewilderment.
"You're not just a nurse, Missy. You're a werewolf.
The words were thick and suffocating in the air. What? Unsure I had heard her right, I muttered.
Layla leaned against the doorframe, her eyes slitted, watching me with a sparkle of satisfaction as though she'd been waiting for this moment.
"How could you, " I stuttered. "You're lying, this is... this is insane."
She pushed off from the door and proceeded toward the window, gazing out. Were it simply a lie, Missy. Your world is shifting, Missy. You don't realize it yet. It must.
Trying to understand her remarks, I was on autopilot; they didn't fit, didn't add up. This could not be genuine. No, I couldn't be. My intellect rejected it flatly. It was ridiculous.
She must have detected the hesitation in my eyes. Layla went on, her voice flat and chilly, "I had my doubts, too." But now? That's too late. What about the truth? It's been concealed from you for a long.
Loud, hard knocking on the door came before I could collect my ideas. Layla's gaze clouded. I stayed motionless, perplexed, and struggling with her discovery as she remained silent and immobile. Another knock, more insistent this time.
I turned, just to feel the door being shoved open with a loud bang. A figure loomed in the doorway, tall and commanding, like a storm descending on an already disordered world.
Damion Wolfe
His name floated in the air like a challenge, and the room appeared to shrink as he moved forward, his dark eyes fixing on mine.
"I think you're searching for solutions," he continued, his voice deep, rich, like silk but with clear authority.
Layla tensed next to me and I felt my knees give way. This man, this stranger, he seemed to belong in a whole other universe.
My pulse raced as all I had known appeared to come apart; I muttered, nearly in a haze, "I am."
Damion stepped forward, his gaze unflinching. "Then you have located them."
Damion's approach made the air change. His eyes' intensity made my skin tingle and a peculiar pull, something deep inside, began to stir in my chest.
Silent, Layla observed Damion halt a few feet from me. Like a magnetic force I couldn't avoid, his presence dominated the room.
"Missy," he remarked quietly and calmly, yet his voice had clear strength. "What you are, what you have always been, is not only a component of your past. You were born with it. You are a lycanthrope. Your fate is already set.
Searching his face, I stared in surprise. He was not joking. He was not joking.
I don't get it. Though my voice was weak, I couldn't help it. "I'm just... I'm just a nurse. This is crazy.
Damion moved closer, his eyes fixed on mine. You are far more than that, Missy. You are linked to a pack of seven alpha kings, including myself. You have been selected to be their mate, to assist in uniting the packs and carrying out an old prophecy.
I gasped. Seven leaders? A prophesy?
I glanced at Layla, now standing behind him, a subtle smile on her lips. She was not shocked. Naturally, she wasn't. She had always known.
Damion looked back at me. Missy, your powers will increase. Your powers will increase, Missy. The more you resist them, the more they grow.
"No," I said softly. This is not me. I can't, I don't want this.
Damion's eyes grew gentler, yet his words carried clear strength. You have no option. That's why I'm here: to assist you in accepting your true self and to guide you forward.
His words swept over me, a blend of anxiety, uncertainty, and curiosity rising inside. I admitted, "I don't know whether I can do this."
"You will," Damion stated flatly, his voice resolute. "But only if you accept the reality. You were never simply a nurse. You have been selected for something far more important.
My head was spinning as I fell back; all I believed I knew seemed abruptly unimportant.
A quiet hung between us, thick and tangible.
Then Damion's following remarks cut through the haze.
Missy, your world is going to change. You must be prepared.
Our attraction was clear-cut. His proximity ignited something in me, a racing heart, an unavoidable chest tightness. It was like a magnet; I wasn't sure if it drew me or scared me. What truly disturbed me, though, was my duality. More than anything, that tension, that uncertainty, ate at me.
Missy, you're coming with me. Damion's voice was strong, yet beneath it was a touch of something gentler, perhaps a worry? A inquiry in the manner he observed me. His statements were not a request. They were orders. You have to realise your position in this planet.
My throat was tight as I glanced at him, attempting to force the wave of feelings away. All of this was far too much, far too early. Trying to steady the shake in my voice, I said, "I don't even know if I can trust you."
Damion's look changed from a severe one to one that was softer and more sympathetic. Though his face was unreadable, he stepped closer. Trust develops gradually. I don't expect you to believe me right now. You will have to, though. Before long.
When he came close, I couldn't deny the pulse of fire that shot through me; his words dug deep, embedding themselves under my skin, so I couldn't ignore them either. I had to fight back. I could not let him, could not let this occur.
Why should I? I discovered my voice. "Why must I be involved in this?" You're inviting me to participate in something... I am not. I am only,
"Just a nurse?" Though his eyes showed no amusement, his lips curled slightly. You are far more than that. You have always been. Your fate is this.
His remarks seemed to dare me to reject them; part of me wanted to run and forget all he had just unloaded on me.
I cannot be what you wish me to be. Though my voice was hardly audible, there was a hint of certainty in it. I thought it. At least I hoped to.
Damion's face grew serious and his attitude changed little, but I noticed it. The change seemed obvious, as though an invisible line separating us was being pushed. "You don't get to choose, Missy." This is your identity.
A shiver rushed down my back and I knew then that I was on the verge of something I couldn't flee. Though I wanted to battle, something inside me said it was already too late. The conflict had already started.
A quick picture of anarchy, of wolves, of fire raced through my head before I could speak once again. I gasped. It was a vision, not a thinking. A vision I could not govern.
I found myself in the middle of a fight surrounded by people I couldn't identify but yet knew. Seeing Damion made my heart turn. Then the picture changed to a woman I remembered from a minute earlier. Laila. But she was unique. Darker in hue. Hazardous. I was there in the middle of everything.
Though my heart still raced, the vision faded as fast as it arrived.
Damion whispered quietly, "You felt that." Missy, your powers are waking up. This is only the start.
He started the engine, the low rumble of the car's power heightening the tension. At first I didn't talk; my mind was still knotted in the vision. Damion just concentrated on the road ahead; he didn't push me. Though the quiet hung between us, I could feel its thick, suffocating weight.
Why now? I said, shattering the stillness. "Why me?"
Damion didn't respond immediately. I looked at him and for a brief second saw something in his eyes that resembled suffering. It was gone as fast as it had come, but it left a question in the air.
Finally, he said quietly and carefully, "Because you're not only a nurse." You are my friend. You are my friend. "Together, we hold the key to all."
My heart skipped a beat. Though I felt his simple words resonate, I still had uncertainty. How was I expected to trust this man? This... alpha monarch standing there, composed and assured as if the world was his?
"I don't even know you," I muttered, shaking my head, a bitter laugh escaping. "I don't even know what any of this means."
"I'll help you understand," Damion said, his voice steady, unwavering. "But it's not a choice. You can't run from it."